Dormancy
by DiscoSludge
Summary: A series of drabbles focusing on the process of moving on. Moving on and trying again.
1. Chapter 1

**dormant** — _**adj **_. quiet and inactive, as during sleep

#

001. Immortal

Humans and aliens alike had taken to calling her 'The Shepard' as if placing a 'the' in front of her last name added more dignity. As if just calling her Shepard wasn't enough. They saw her as a name, a figurehead. Some sort of deity to aspire to be. But that was it. Hell, most of them probably wouldn't be able to recognize her face if it hit them square in the jaw.

James sighed.

"Something troubling you?" Somebody was asking him, and the voice was eerily familiar that he almost wished he was wrong. He wasn't. It wasn't her. Another female stood next to him though, eyes bright and hair even brighter. It was redder than red.

"You could say that." His response was curt, but left a lot of open possibilities. The ball was in her court now.

"Want to talk about it over a drink?"

"Drinks." He said, as he motioned towards the already, almost-empty cup in his hand.

"Ah..." She trailed off, her mouth forming a little 'o'. She stepped closer and sat on the stool next to him, it squeaked a little as she adjusted herself. He was hit with the scent of shampoo and cheap perfume.

"So what's your name soldier?" She asked as she motioned for the bartender to get a drink for her, small please, no ice.

"James."

"Really?" Her voice turned to wonder in a snap. "Did you know that one of the squadmates who assisted The Shepard in stopping the reapers was named James? James Vega, actually." She giggled a bit, the drink starting to set in.

"No kidding."

"Yeah," She sighed dreamily. "Did you also know that's why I dyed my hair red, 'cuz it's the same color that The Shepard's was."

The past tense hit James a little hard, but he brushed past it with a chuckle.

"What's your name?"

"Sophie."

Somewhere, some higher being was laughing and pointing a finger at him. It couldn't possibly be a coincidence.

"Your parents name you after anyone?"

"My grandmother." Sophie said with a smile.

"You know Shepard's first name was..."

"Noah, right?" Sophie asked.

Ah right, not many knew her real first name. James thought about it for a moment. Perhaps even in death she would rather be known by her older brother's first name, Noah, rather than the name her parents had given her, Sophia.

"Yeah." James took a sip and coughed as it burned his throat. The whiskey was getting too strong. He hated whiskey, but Noah loved it.

"You know a lot about The Shepard," Sophie's pointer finger traced the outside of her cup carefully, the polish on her nail glowing dimly under the bar lights. "You must have been a fan."

"You could say I was."

"A lot of people are," Sophie's dreamy sighs were starting to add up, James noticed. "She was wise, kind, resourceful..." Sophie trailed off.

James's eyes flickered down towards his now-empty glass.

"Not to mention she was beautiful!" Sophie's voice was reaching squeal ranges now and James had to grit his teeth to fight back a headache.

"Hell of a woman."

Sophie stared at his face for a moment, her big, green eyes probing each inclination of the brows or twitch of the lips. He was smiling, small and somber, and in that moment she knew.

"You..." Sophie's eyes widened. "You're James Vega."

James looked at her for a moment, his smile weakening. So much of Noah was here with him, he could tell by the look in Sophie's eyes. Redheaded, green-eyed beauties were hard to come by, James supposed, but she still wasn't the one he was looking for. He laughed a big, hearty laugh.

"Keep drinking and you'll be calling me George Washington," Big, hazel eyes looked back down at the empty whiskey glass. "Nah, but in all seriousness, I'm not who you think I am. Just a regular guy named James."

Sophie remained silent for a moment as she took another sip of her drink.

"Must be the tequila."

"I can get you more of that," James chuckled. "If you like."

#


	2. Chapter 2

002. Metaphor

#

"You don't actually need my help with that," James frowned as he looked down at the small woman standing next to him. "Please tell me you don't need help with that."

"I do, actually." Diana smirked before letting out a chuckle.

"It's not even thirty pounds." James complained.

"You said you'd help." Diana recalled as she shut the lid on her footlocker. She remembered with perfect clarity what Shepard had said to her. One footlocker. No more, no less. Fortunately, for her, Diana was an excellent packer and knew how to make space. About thirty pounds worth of both equipment and clothes, and Diana was set for the trip.

"Yeah, back when you said you needed help cleaning up around here. I figured favor for a favor." James explained. Diana had commissioned his help a few weeks ago, after the Normandy's repairs had been made, and how could he say no? Damsels in distress were his thing. Unfortunately, this damsel was far from distressed. He watched as she played with the ends of her hair.

"_I _figured that a big guy like you could carry thirty pounds," Diana shrugged nonchalantly. "Guess I was wrong."

"I can carry it, obviously."

"Then you will?"

"When you can too?"

They both heard footsteps from across the hall and James stiffened. The last thing he wanted to be caught doing was arguing with a reporter. It wouldn't be too far from Shepard's footsteps though. The thought made his stomach turn uncomfortably.

The door slid open to reveal a very usually- stoic, very angry-looking prothean. His four eyes burned into Diana's little frame.

"Arguing solves neither of your problems. I suggest you carry it yourself. The human soldier has more important things to care about than helping you." Javik said the word you with contempt. Everyone on the crew knew that Javik hated Diana, but, for some reason or another, Shepard had kept her around. James didn't mind her partially just because half the time, he forgot she was there. Diana kept to herself. Her asking him for help was about the extent of their interactions.

Diana just stared at Javik.

"It's alright man, I'll just carry her stuff." James sighed. He really wasn't in the mood for this now.

"I can carry it." Diana said, her eyes remaining on Javik. They were wide and frightened. She scurried over to her footlocker, picked it up with surprising ease, flashed a quick, nervous smile to James, then left the room without a look back. Javik moved far out of the way for her in the doorway, a snarling frown on his face.

"I don't know if I should be thanking you." James finished his sentence with a small hum before shaking his head. Javik watched him carefully.

"She is weak."

"She's not exactly a fighter."

"That is a lie." Javik explains as he touches the doorframe. James furrows his eyebrows.

"What do you-"

"She fights with words. I do not trust her, nor should you." Javik nods before leaving the room, leaving James alone. James doesn't know how to respond to that so he just sighs, shakes his head, and follows Javik to the elevator.

**This one has a blink-and-you'll-miss-it metaphor, so you know, just kind of barely flirting with the prompt here. Also, I chose Diana mainly just because the poor girl gets enough hate as it is. Also this is chronologically before the last chapter. Sorry about not specifying that, but you know. Anways, hope you enjoyed! don't forget to drop a review, tell me if you liked it or hated it, give me critiques, anything! **


	3. Chapter 3

_003. Hold_

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Joker was not expecting to be alone. He had hoped, dreamed, not to mention wished, that EDI could be here with him. But it was Shepard's choice. Not his. And Shepard was always right. Better to be no synthetic life than dangerous synthetic life.

He can't say he's not a little bit bitter though.

"Something got you down?" Somebody's voice is familiar, feminine, and squeaky in his ears.

"That's a funny question Tali," Joker began as he rubbed the petals of an exotic flower in his hand. "All things considered." He know he shouldn't joke around at times like this, but really what else was he here for? To call himself one of the noble fighters with Shepard? He barely fought, and when he did, it usually ended with him in the med-bay for at least a week. All he was really good for were his jokes when he didn't have his ship.

"You know what I mean." Her accent is particularly strong, Joker notices, when she gets exasperated.

"How does it feel for you," Joker begins. "To know that the geth will never, ever exist again?"

Tali is quiet for a moment, her glowing eyes focused on the fauna beneath them. The sudden shift in mood is enough to send chills down Joker's spine.

"I don't know."

"Shouldn't you be happy?"

Tali looks at him through her helmet and Joker could swear that she was staring into his soul. It was seriously starting to freak him out, so he focuses his attention on the flower in his hands.

"You see that flower?"

"Obviously, I'm holding it."

"Joker."

"Sorry."

"Do you see how the petals have little black dots on them?" Tali asks. She plucks the flower from his hand and holds it in her own. It's pink hues are a sharp contrast to her black, gloved fingers.

"Yeah."

"Imagine the geth are the little black dots. The flower is beautiful without them, but with them, the flower just looks diseased and ugly. Now imagine the only way to get rid of the black dots was to take off all the petals," Tali says as she plucks each petal and throws them to the wind. "All that's left is the center."

"So you just went off into a long, metaphorical tangent to prove...?"

Tali sighs.

"Losing the Geth is losing a big part of my people's culture," She looks over towards the ship, it's broken down drive-core still sputtering sparks. "It's strange."

"I guess I can see that."

"I'm sorry about EDI." Tali apologizes. Her hands fiddle with each other and Joker can tell she's used to apologizing for things that aren't her fault.

"You don't have to be sorry."

"You'll always have memories of her, right?" Tali asks as she gives the petal-less flower back to him. Joker laughs a dry, bitter laugh as he holds the stem.

"Always."

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**(a/n: guess you could say I've been a little...DORMANT in the writing of this fic. haha oh man. anyways, sorry the updates have been slow, i've just been super busy with other things! hope you enjoy/read/review/construct criticisms/you know same old same old. thanks for reading! c:**


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